Steven Rea

Contributing Movie Critic

Steven Rea is a movie critic. He is a member of the National Society of Film Critics, author of the books Hollywood Cafe: Coffee With the Stars and Hollywood Rides a Bike: Cycling With the Stars, and producer at ridesabike.com.

“Nothing in this world seems to live up to my best fantasies, except you.”

A mid-‘60s swinging London comedy/love story/tale of madness, Morgan! A Suitable Case for Treatment gets a rare area screening on Tuesday, March 18, thanks to the folks at the Chestnut Hill Film Group. This forgotten gem, directed by Karel Reisz, has a bit of the British New Wave’s Billy Liar about it – a colorful, screw-loose protagonist lost in his own wild imaginings. In this case, that’s Morgan Delt (David Warner), a gangly, passionate, fisherman sweater-clad son of Marxists, whose obsessions with the simian life have gotten out of hand – he only feels himself when he’s inside a gorilla suit, scaling townhouse walls, riding a motor bike around town.

Vanessa Redgrave -- in her screen debut, and landing an Oscar nomination for her troubles -- plays Morgan’s artsy, well-to-do muse and missus, and she loves Morgan, too, but his grunting, sniffing, chest-beating antics have become too much to bear. She’s filed for divorce, and has suitors knocking. Funny, sweet, sad, smart, and shot by the great Larry Pizer, Morgan! represents ‘60s British cinema at its adventurous, freewheeling best.

Screening Tuesday, March 18, at 7:30 pm, at the Woodmere Art Museum, 9211 Germantown Ave. Admission is free. A $5 donation is appreciated. For the full CHFG schedule, click here.